Surviving Sandy

This is my neighbor?s house with a boat that came clear across the Raritan Bay from where it was docked in another town.

After having spent two days prepping for the storm and nine days without power, I?m finally again living with electricity, clean clothes and heat. ?It?s amazing, no matter how well you think you might be ready for a storm and a couple of days of no power, not much prepares you for being without light and heat for over a week ? especially when the hurricane that knocked out your power is followed by a nor?easter that puts snow on the ground.

During those nine days, we went through almost my entire stash of candles (an amazing feat for a witchy household!), threw out the entire contents of our fridge, freezer, and standing freezer, had nine days of laundry for 5 people pile up, lost a couple of days of work for Mr. B. and had almost no connection with the outside work to see the big picture of the aftermath of the storm that devastated NJ. ?The kids were out of school, we were cold, we worked through our store of canned good faster that I thought was ever possible and worried if we?d be able to ?find a store with power to restock ? the power was out in every direction, not to mention how many roads were shut down because of flooding or no traffic lights. ?One small bridge leading out of our community had a boat laying across it for a couple of days. ?There was periods that I felt completely cut off. ?During the end of that week, my daughter had her 14th birthday with me having no ability to bake her a cake, which was just about my undoing. ?We finally gave in and purchased a generator we really couldn?t afford to try to power our washer and drier, only to find out it couldn?t without tripping it?s breaker. ?It was still handy for charging phones and having a light in the darkest hours, though the lines for purchasing gas for it could last up to four hours.

What we did have, however, were endless hours of family card games by candle light. ?We had the most friendly, cheerful National Guard unit down the road a bit, handing out daily rations of water, ice, MRE?s and kind words. ?We had friends who got their power back up sooner bringing us hot meals, thermoses of cocoa, a 5 gallon container of gas, blankets galore and, best of all, delicious birthday goodies. ?I had tons of well-wishes and prayers via facebook and email that kept me going. ?I appreciate each and every one.

Now that we are back with power, and slowly stocking back out fridge, it?s time to start trying to put our efforts back into our community. ?I know by now many folks have already made a donation to the Red Cross or another charity that collects money for disasters such as this one ? and for that, a big thank you! ?Please remember, though, that there are so many, many affected by this storm (not all of them walking on two legs) who will never be able to get to a Red Cross station. ?There are those who got initial help, but will struggle to get back on their feet. ?They will need help for months to come, especially during the winter cold. ?People have lost loved ones, their homes, their pets, their joy.

If you already helped, or can?t afford to do so right now, please consider making a donation (no matter how small) to a charity or organization that is giving ongoing and direct help to one of the communities hit hard Hurricane Sandy and the winter storm that came right after it.

Purchase the ?Rebuild Exit 117? ?shirt from this NJ site, and all proceeds will be donated to relief efforts focused on the Exit 117 Shore Communities of Keansburg, Sandy Hook, Atlantic Highlands, Keyport, Hazlet, Holmdel, Union Beach and others that were devastated by Hurricane Sandy. ?http://www.fistpumpshirts.com/shirts/rebuild-your-exit/new-jersey-exit-117-help-rebuild-after-hurricane-sandy-support-shirt-donate-relief-efforts.html

The Ali Forney Center in NYC is a shelter for homeless LGTB teens. ?Their center was completely destroyed during the hurricane. ?To get details on how to help them get back and running:?http://www.aliforneycenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=cms.page&id=1101

The Keyport Food Pantry feeds folks year round. They will be feeding even more people after the hurricane and into the cold weather months. ?http://www.keyportfoodpantry.org/how_you_can_help0.aspx.

Castle of Dreams Animal Rescue?is a dog rescue organization that is fostering animals until they can be reunited with their owners (and of course works year round to find forever homes for other dogs).?http://www.castle-of-dreams.com/

The Monmouth County SPCA is a no-kill shelter that has taken in tons of pets from people who had to evacuate ? and rescued animals that were just left behind. They need a lot of help to care for these animals: ?http://monmouthcountyspca.org/

?

This was the flooding happening in our neighborhood *before the storm even hit*.

Last but not least, one of the members of Monmouth County Broom & Brew, after speaking with a local school administrator about the long-term needs of local children, is working on creating a donation drive to collect holiday gifts for the children who have been displaced from their homes in our local area. ?These number in the hundreds in our local communities. I?ll definitely be sharing more information on this in the coming months. ?If you?d like to make a donation in the meantime towards this effort, contact me privately. (In the spirit of full disclosure, we are not set up as a legal charity ? we are just some folks who try to do some good where we can.)

Overall, this was a really draining, scary experience, that isn?t completely over yet. ?But in the end, with a home standing with minimal damage, all family members accounted for, and an outpouring of support, we were lucky and blessed. ?Now that we are back up and running, it?s time to start sharing those blessings with others in our community.

?

Thank you all so much for your support during this time.

Source: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/confessionsofapagansoccermom/2012/11/surviving-sandy.html

extremely loud and incredibly close south carolina primary squirrel appreciation day billy beane kathy griffin road conditions newt gingrich wives